Way back in the last Millennium, I had the good fortune to get introduced to an opportunity to invest in a young start-up company that was raising money. The introducer was my long-time banking partner, Bruce, who may be one of the smartest finance professionals I ever met. The 1990s for me were the years of banking wine and roses. I was a partner and member of the management committee of one of the most…
It’s Memorial Day and we are waking up in Cortona after a wonderful stay at the Monastero di Cortona, high up the top of this hill town that looks out over the Tiberian plains of central Italy in Umbria. I have to say for the record that his boutique hotel and its level of amenities, fine dining, room quality and overall service is unmatched by any place I have stayed recently. It’s half the price…
Yes, I lived in Italy for three years from 1968 – 1971, but I lived in Rome, which is only one of the many atmospheres that Italy offers. It’s a wonderful ambiance in Rome, with ruins at every turn and antiquity spilling over into modern Roman life with the hustle and bustle of Vespas and Cinquecentos roaring around the sights across cobblestone streets that never seem to show wear. My life in Rome was the…
Even if I hadn’t lived in Rome for three years, I probably would have still heard that all roads lead to Rome. That fascinating phrase has both literal and metaphorical meanings. Literally, it refers to the extensive Roman road network that connected the vast empire to its capital. The Romans were master engineers who built over 250,000 miles of roads, with major routes like the Via Appia genuinely converging on Rome. This infrastructure was crucial…
Back in the day, when I traveled almost every week, usually flying off to some place in Latin America or Europe, I remember the feeling on a Sunday night as I headed off to the airport. I hated leaving home before the weekend had ended, and I hated not having the comfort of being able to go into the office like a regular person, but what I never disliked or dreaded was the flights themselves.…
I have always had a fascination with mountain climbing, not because it was something I wanted to do, but rather, because it was something I could not possibly see myself doing or ever wanting to do. What would compel a person to want to climb a mountain? It is an obvious question and an even more obvious answer with, “because it’s there” being the most common. But there are lots of things that are “there”…
Indeed, life does go on. This simple phrase carries a lot of wisdom – through challenges, joys, difficulties, and triumphs, the world continues to turn and time moves forward. I have noted this reality on many occasions. The most obvious of them is when someone you know or love passes on. Yes, “There’s got to be a morning after” – that’s the opening line to “The Morning After,” the Academy Award-winning song from the 1972…